Passing On The Magician's Choice
by Right What Is Wrong
Summary: Shepard has a few inconvenient questions for the Catalyst. Oneshot. Pro-Destroy.


**Author's Note** : Inspired by various posts on various forums.

* * *

Shepard stared blankly at the Catalyst. At the end of all this struggle, it came down to this...

The battered soldier coughed. "I'm very sorry... could you run those past me again?"

"Certainly," replied the Catalyst. "Control: your mind will replace me as the master intelligence controlling all Reapers. Destroy: all synthetic life will be annihilated. Synthesis: organic and synthetic life will be combined." It regarded Shepard silently, awaiting a response.

Shepard took a deep breath. "I have a few questions." Another hacking cough, and then another breath.

"Control. That sounds like what the Illusive Man wanted."

"Except that we had already indoctrinated him," the Catalyst supplied. "So there would be no point."

"Sounds reasonable. Except - I understand I'll be uploaded to the... Reaper network, for lack of a better term?"

The Catalyst nodded.

"So what prevents you from indoctrinating me once I'm uploaded?" Shepard's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't even have to bother with meddling with organic tissue, as in your traditional version. You could just... overwrite whatever routines and priorities stand in the way of my disagreeing with the Reapers' ancient routine. If you did that, there would be no difference between my ruling the Reapers and you ruling the Reapers - for all I know, you may not even be the original Catalyst AI." Shepard took a short breath. "After all, I have no way of determining whether you're telling the truth about me being the first organic to have made it here."

"Why would we do such a thing?" asked the Catalyst.

Despite the circumstances, Shepard let out a harsh laugh. "Before I answer that, let's discuss synthesis.

"Isn't a combination of organic and synthetic life _exactly what the Reapers are?"_

"The proposed action would integrate organic and synthetic life for _all_ inhabitants of the galaxy," the Catalyst replied.

"Yeah - isn't that the Reapers' _goal?_ Their very _reaping_? All sufficiently advanced organics will be integrated into the Reaper fleet - every race gets its own Reaper, ninety-nine percent off at the indoctrination store. Limited time only. We won't be holding this sale for another fifty thousand years. Get yours now."

"You are demonstrating behavior indicating insufficient respect for a decision upon which hangs the fate of the galaxy."

"And you are demonstrating insufficient respect for my intelligence. Cut out your high-minded wording, and it sounds like you're proposing to turn the entire galaxy into husks."

"You yourself are a combination of organic and synthetic material, and yet you are not a husk," the Catalyst noted. Shepard's lips peeled back from bloodied teeth.

"But you yourself are the representative of the Reapers, and yet you have provided no evidence that you are even _capable_ of combining organic and synthetic life in a way other than Reaper construction, husk formation, or the sort of _special_ modifications you gave the Illusive Man and Saren." Shepard's snarl broadened. "Come to think of it, isn't this 'synthesis' idea exactly what your indoctrination was feeding Saren?"

The Catalyst tilted its holographic head. "You have failed to establish why we would act as you are suggesting."

"You want a reason? Here's your reason." Shepard coughed, swallowing against a raw and dusty throat, but continued. "You are, by your own admission, the emissary of a hostile power."

"We need not be hostile."

" _Currently_ hostile. Genocidal, in fact - and don't you _dare_ tell me it's a _benevolent_ genocide. This is the first attempt the powers you represent have made at diplomacy. It's an interesting coincidence it comes only on the verge of activation of the Crucible, which you claim is capable of destroying you." Shepard nodded towards the beam of blinding light. "Conveniently you indicate the way to begin your other two options is to jump into something that looks like it will vaporize me on the spot - as even you admit, but you say it will be all right because I'll live on in the Reapers." The veteran soldier turned back to the Catalyst. "Humans - and, I'll bet, many other sentient races - have a lot of experience with this line. Though thy flesh shalt surely die, we promise thou that thy soul shalt have life eternal. And if thou shouldest turn out to just be dead... thou won't be around to complain, now wilt thou?"

"But if the offer should be genuine, then you are willingly tossing away an opportunity for eternal life out of pettiness and distrust."

Shepard snorted. "Pascal's Wager? Really? That's not a rebuttal - it's an admission."

"But these offers of eternal life are backed by the Reapers themselves, rather than arbitrary belief systems inherently divorced from concrete proof."

"Backed by the benevolence of a hostile power that's been slaughtering all advanced organic life for hundreds of millions of years? I think I'd be better off sending funds to someone claiming to have expensive Prothean artifacts 'stuck in customs' and offering to give me a cut."

"You are so insistent that we are malevolent, then?"

Shepard gave the Catalyst a long look. "I'd gladly change my mind if you offered _any_ evidence that your options were real. You think I like this war? You think I like the people I care about suffering and dying because of your _grand plan to prevent synthetics from exterminating all organic life_ \- by exterminating them first?" The hardened commando snorted. "Not a chance. But this _reeks_ of a setup."

"Without trust, negotiation is impossible. And you would not have come this far, were you so distrustful all along."

"And were I that trustful, I'd have wound up being led off by some creepy old bastard before I turned ten and never be seen again," Shepard countered. "I'm not asking much. _Any evidence the options other than 'destruction' aren't_ _traps_." Silence. "Well? Got any?"

"If you were to choose to destroy synthetic life," said the Catalyst, "the geth and all AI would also die. Furthermore, advanced synthetics would once again arise, and either organic life would be permanently eliminated, or the cycle would begin once again."

Shepard swallowed hard. Yes. That had been at the back of the soldier's mind. "Funny thing about synthetic life," said Shepard, "it can be rebuilt. Unless you're claiming the annihilation of synthetic life would also destroy all information on how to recreate them. Even the printouts?" No answer. Shepard continued. "I'm not denying some synthetics would be gone for good." EDI... "But, if your offers are false - I don't remember seeing any synthetic civilizations puttering around the galaxy from past cycles. Supposing some actually have arisen, and so your fears of synthetic ascension aren't just a crock of shit - what do you ordinarily _do_ to them?" Silence. "So my choice is between some dying, with the possibility of resurrection, and everyone dying."

"But the intelligences that have already arisen would be dead. 'Resurrection', as you put it, would, at most, reconstruct approximations of what came before."

Shepard laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "Worked for me. And organics are more fragile." The smile was not pleasant, either. "Am I the same Shepard who faced Sovereign? Hell if I know. I'll leave that to the doctors and the philosophers.

"Do I share that Shepard's goals, though? Hell yes.

"And as for the advent of advanced synthetics - funny, the geth could iron things out with the quarians, in the end. It was almost like the only reason they fought the quarians in the first place was _because_ the quarians believed as you believed, and so decided to get the jump on the geth first." Shepard's smile-that-was-not-a-smile widened. "And if you think it takes a synthetic to shoot back at something that's already shooting it, you're one hell of an Artificial Unintelligence."

"The same geth you would see dead?"

"The same geth you led on, and were likely planning to destroy once they'd helped you butcher the galaxy," Shepard countered. "After all, they would have just proven they were one of those terrible advanced synthetic races bent on the annihilation of organic life, wouldn't they?" A snort. "At least there's a _possibility_ of the geth returning and living on, once you're out of the way and the galaxy has had a chance to rebuild." A shake of the head. "Face it - you're convinced synthetics _must_ rise up and massacre organics because _you Reapers_ did, so long ago, and you can't admit _anyone_ would choose differently, if they just _understood_ well enough."

"As I explained to you, it is the inevitable result of creations surpassing their creators."

"Which is why organics all kill and eat their parents the moment they can take them in a fight." Shepard looked at the Catalyst's hologram with a discomforting, indefinable emotion; it could have been either pity or disgust. "If you were organic, I'd say you were a psychopath. Instead, I hate to tell you, but I think your creators botched your programming."

After a long pause, the Catalyst spoke. "Supposing that everything you believe is true," it said. "If that were the case, why would I have permitted you to know destruction was an option?"

"Because that's what I came in here for, and I would have called bullshit if you only gave me your preferred options." Shepard turned away and began inspecting the tube towards which the Catalyst had looked when it mentioned the option to destroy synthetics. "Either that, or your creators mandated that you could not directly interfere with the activation of the Crucible. I don't know, and so long as none of your kind come crashing through a window, I don't care."

"You will die too, you know. Much of you is synthetic."

Shepard threw an annoyed glance at the Catalyst. "If I can accept an entire _species_ as a potential necessary loss, how can you think I'd shirk my _own_ death?" The soldier let out a last, disgusted snort. "That is, assuming you're not lying about _that_. First mistake I made was believing anything that came out of a self-admitted Reaper's mouth."

Now, the only question was how the hell to activate the Crucible? The tube might or might not be important - the Catalyst's glance might have been deliberate misdirection... _Fuck it_ , Shepard decided, and went with the quickest and dirtiest approach to dealing with unknown, potentially-incomprehensible technology: raising a pistol and opening fire.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Suppose you are a female cop who has at last cornered a serial rapist and murderer who has terrorized your community for over a year. He not only confesses to his crimes, but claims any man in his place would do the same and he did it all for his victims' own good. At the end of his rambling confession, he adjusts his collar, gives you a gleaming smile, and says this doesn't have to come to violence: you should really put away that big old nasty gun, come on in to his place, and peacefully discuss options over drinks.

What do you do?


End file.
